President Trump Gets First Victory With House Republicans Voting to Repeal Obamacare

President Trump Gets First Victory With House Republicans Voting to Repeal Obamacare

GOP revs up to 'Eye of the Tiger' for vote, Dems sing bye

Ramiro Mantilla
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06 May, 2017, 23:09

Third, if the Senate does approve its own version of health care bill, it must reconcile the differences with the House version to compose a compromise package. The bill's passage has stirred an huge amount of fear and concern, given what it would mean for Americans with pre-existing health conditions, what it would do to their premiums, and what would happen to millions of people who'd lose their coverage as a result.

For the women of America, the narrow House passage of the GOP health care bill Thursday raises one urgent question: How will it affect their care? Democrats, who unanimously voted against the repeal, serenaded them with chants of "Na na na na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye" - a prediction that Republicans who backed the plan would pay for it at the ballot box.

The health care proposal put forward by President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan is also an attempt to destroy Medicaid as we know it. 20 Republicans opposed it as well as all House Democrats.

First, it's important to understand that the popular idea that the House bill now "goes" to the Senate for a vote is just wrong.

Republicans are claiming a triumph by pushing their legislative centerpiece scuttling much of President Barack Obama's health care law through the House. "Make no mistake about it", Trump said at the White House.

Republican senators have signaled that the bill will need a substantial rewrite to earn enough votes to pass in their chamber.

They promised to improve Obamacare.

"It disproportionately hurts higher-cost states like New Jersey", said Heather Howard, a former state health commissioner who teaches health policy at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. The goal, largely achieved, was to expand access and to mandate coverage for essential health benefits and pre-existing conditions.

"In our country, we have a very piecemeal system" under the control of insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, employers and doctors, all determined to limit the government's role. And every member of the House who voted for it must be held accountable.

The measure would replace Obama's federal subsidies for lower-income insurance buyers with tax credits geared to consumers' ages. "They have promised to make change but it's a much more hard thing when you have power", Borick said. That saves almost $900 billion over the next decade, marking the biggest entitlement reform in history. This process will probably delay initial steps in the Senate on health care until June, and could result in the Senate refusing to even consider some House-passed provisions (particularly those aimed at modifying Obamacare insurance regulations like those affecting people with preexisting conditions) that run afoul of the ruling. That's on top of about $100 billion over a decade for states to help people afford coverage and stabilize insurance markets.

Three conservative Republicans - Reps. But it also would block federal payments for a year to Planned Parenthood, which Republicans seek to defund because the group includes abortion among its health services.

"As a businessman, what really bugs me is they voted for it without reading it and they voted for it without it being scored (by the Congressional Budget Office)", Heckman said. Briefing Trump at the White House on the amendment on Wednesday, Upton reminded the president that he had said in a CBS interview last weekend that he wanted to ensure that coverage for pre-existing conditions were as strong as Obamacare.

"Women will find themselves in a position where they've bought insurance, but do not have maternity coverage under their new plan" she says.

In contrast, elder or sick Americans would be charged more under the new bill.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Lisa will be back, as we explore the politics and particulars of the Republican bill, after the news summary. "We're going to get this finished". The AHCA eliminates those taxes.

"I've already made clear that I don't support the House bill as now constructed because I continue to have concerns that this bill does not do enough to protect Ohio's Medicaid expansion population, especially those who are receiving treatment for heroin and prescription drug abuse", said Sen.

The plan is also deeply unpopular off Capitol Hill. He delayed a trip to his hometown of NY, followed the vote closely on television and quickly bused in his fellow Republicans to the White House after the vote and assembled them in the Rose Garden.

"We got the ball rolling".

"At the end of the day we needed to succeed and we needed to prove we could deliver on our promises to the American people, and this is proof that in the House, at least, we can", Rep Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Thursday. "So it's a start, right?"

"I went through two years of campaigning and I'm telling you, no matter where I went, people were suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare", Trump said. "That's the main deal".